enjoys a goL reps ion Tu. ing, .. enjoy a
few beers at local pub Shane's Flight Deck. Several bars in the Middletown/Highspire
area cater to PSH students. Wednesday is Penn State night at Shane's.
PSH Ranks Low in
Binge Dri
By Kathryn Wix
For The Capital Times
In the midst of a nationwide alcohol
crisis, Penn State Harrisburg has emerged
with one of the lowest rates of binge
drinking among its students compared to
other schools and other Penn State cam
puses.
The PSH Alcohol Task Force, made up
of university staff and community mem
bers, focused on dealing with the prob
lems of binge drinking, conducts core sur
veys every three years to monitor student
behaviors. Binge drinking is defined by
the Harvard Survey as five drinks for a
man, or four drinks for a woman, at one
time. Steve Backels, with the Alcohol
Task Force at PSH, said "In 1996, 72 per
cent of PSH students had a drink within
the preceding 30 days; on average, they
drank 4.5 drinks every two weeks and 29
percent had binge drank in the preceding
two weeks." In 1999, those numbers
dropped respectively to 62 percent, 2.8
drinks, and 24 percent. It is evidence that
the program is working. Backels added
that "the surveys are reliable and scientif
ically accurate, although the 1996 survey
may have over-sampled resident stu
dents."
Backels says that "due to PSH's older
population, binge drinking is not a huge
problem here." Although that does. not
mean there are no incidents of binge
drinking occurring on campus, Backels
reports that "the numbers so far have been
low."
There are programs available to
ensure that binge drinking will not
become a huge problem at PSH. They
include confidential counseling, referral
services and awareness programs for stu
dents living in Meade Heights. George
Young, coordinator for residence life at
PSH, says programs are sponsored by the
residence life department and, while they
are not anti-alcohol in nature, they are
nking
designed to promote awareness and
responsibility to help students make
informed choices about using alcohol.
Currently, approximately 356 students
occupy the Meade Heights area. Some of
these students live in LIFE, Living in a
Free Environment, residences. This means
no smoking, alcohol or drug use is permit
ted. Students at PSH have mixed feelings
about the position that binge drinking is
not really a problem on campus. Many
students take pride in being a member of
such a responsible community, while oth
ers offered different conclusions. Chad E.,
a communications major, says "I don't
think that there is a problem due to the
fact that there are so many cops around
that have control. If we were at a bigger
campus, then there would be a problem."
Erica, also a communications student, dis
agrees with the definitions the survey used
in coming up with their numbers.
"Consider what is actually cpnsidered
binge drinking before approaching the
problem. The degree to which drinking
occurs matters more than the numeral
amount of drinks per week or month. Two
drinks to one person is 12 to another, and
the person who drinks two drinks a day
five times a week correlates more into
alcoholic tendencies than the individual
who consumes twelve once a month. The
security and school departments are more
likely to appease the wishes of the com
munity by citing the lowest statistics in
highly extreme circumstances." Several
students laughed openly when the survey
results were disclosed to them, possibly
suggesting that there is more of a problem
than the statistics show.
Police presence, campus size and stu
dent age have all been cited as reasons
why this campus handles alcohol deci
sions so well. Many students agree that
PSH offers a quality education. If they
wanted to party, they would have chosen a
larger campus.
Warmth Arrives In Time For Winter
Continued from Page 1
recently serving. In addition to the acade
mic buildings, the boilers originally heat
ed the former Fruehauf warehouses, the
old dorms, child care center and dining
hall buildings, Dankanich said.
The new boilers are smaller than the
former ones. According to Dankanich, the
former units were oversized for the
demand. He added that a boiler working
at full capacity is more energy efficient.
The current heat plant serves Olmsted, the
Science and Technology building, the
Equipment Purchase Saves Money
In the past, organizers of live campus
performances spent approximately $6OO
to rent sound equipment. Last week,
PSH's office of student affairs purchased
a versatile, portable sound system which
will eliminate the need for rentals.
Disappointment with the cost, variable
quality and delivery hassles of rented
equipment prompted the purchase.
Director of Student Affairs Dr. Donald
Holtzman noted multiple benefits of a
university owned system. "We own it,
manage it and our technicians know it,"
Holtzman said. Holtzman's office worked
Ilh ii EPA Drinking Water. Know What's In It For You.
Call your water supplier or the Safe Drinking Water Hotline
at 1-800-426.4791 Or visit www epa.govisatewateri
bookstore, the library, EAB and the CUB
The second boiler's installation and
wiring process continues and will be com
plete prior to the colder weather. Once the
heat plant retrofit is complete, contractors
will focus their attention on beautifica
tion. The exterior is scheduled for new
brick and siding.
Directly behind the heat plant, a small
building designed to house switchers for
the new underground electrical lines will
soon replace the unsightly above ground
metal structure west of Olmsted.
By Cathie McCormick Musser
Capital Times Editor In Chief
with Mike Kalbaugh of lIT and student
Roderick Lee to select the appropriate
system
According to Holtzman, the compo
nents are mounted in a portable rack that
can be moved easily from building to
building as needed. The system includes
an amplifier, mixer, cassette player, CD
player, equalizer and six wireless micro
phones. It will be used for the first time
during the performance of Gospel Rama
2000 on Oct. 23 in the CUB. The Student
Activities office will handle scheduling of
the equipment.
Now It
Comes With
A List Of
Ingredients.
A short new report from your
'ou what's
ok for your
In it comes
the most
nt is you.